Sprouting

Last night I prepared a dish called, Sprouted Quinoa Salad. It required 3 cups of sprouted quinoa, which led into the discussion of why to sprout and how to go about doing it. First of all, let's talk about that little word with a big punch called.....sprout!

What is it and why do it?

Sprouting is taking any seed or nut and allowing it to germinate. When this happens, they turn into a superfood becoming rich in enzymes, amino acids, minerals and trace minerals and chlorophyll. Because of this, they are able to facilitate digestion, detoxification and weight loss! Sprouts are also healing and therapeutic, cleansing and alkalizing. And guess what else? They are filled with antiaging antioxidants!
When we buy sprouts at the grocery store we can be paying up to TEN times the amount if we were to sprout them at home.

How do I get started?

There are different ways to sprout and several sprouting kits out there, but the easist way is the glass jar method. You take a wide-mouthed Mason jar with the screw top lid and place a screen in between to rinse and drain your seeds. You can buy window screening at Home Depot and cut out some circles to match your jar.....that's what I did. Super easy and cheap! You can also purchase a lid for your jar online that comes with a screen or you can place the screen on your jar with a rubberband around the lip.

Once you've done that, you can place your seeds in the jar, but be mindful that they will expand, so leave room for that process to happen. Place your lid on and fill with filtered water to rinse your seeds. Then flip over and drain. Once all the water has drained, fill your jar with water again and allow your seeds to soak overnight. The next morning, drain and rinse your seeds, leaving the lid on. Once all the water is out of the jar, allow your jar to rest on its side (tipped on slight slant if you can) to allow water to drain. Rinse and repeat twice a day for two days. You should already see your seeds starting to sprout by day one. Harvest them between 3 to seven days by taking them out of their jar and placing them in plastic baggies for refrigeration.

Some of the easiest sprouts to grow are alfalfa, mung beans, broccoli, chickpeas, quinoa, lentils, pea sprouts and wheat seeds. For most sprouts, continue to sprout until they have developed a long tail or their first leaves have begun to go green. Chickpeas, quinoa, pea sprouts and lentils are ready to eat as soon as their tails begin to unfurl or emerge from the seed.

Enjoy your new adventure! I will be selling more sprouting jars in the near future....but I need to go to my dad's basement in Michigan first. ;)